---
id: virustotal3
version: "1.0.8"
license: unclear
license_treatment: unclear
maintenance: abandoned
---

# virustotal3 — Python 3 implementation of the VirusTotal v3 API

License: unclear · Maintenance: abandoned · Downloads: 166.5K/mo

## What it is and what it does

virustotal3 is a Python 3 client for VirusTotal's v3 REST API, designed to wrap the API endpoints and provide convenient methods for security analysis tasks. It exposes enterprise features like Live Hunt and Retro Hunt that were unavailable in the v2 API, and handles file uploads by automatically selecting the correct endpoint based on file size (including support for files larger than 32MB).

The library has no external runtime dependencies, making installation straightforward, but it is no longer maintained—the repository was archived after the last release in August 2020. Since VirusTotal's v3 API is documented as beta and under active development, the library may break if the API changes, and there is no maintainer to issue fixes.

Use it for:

- Integrate malware and threat scanning into Python security workflows using VirusTotal's v3 endpoints.
- Automate file upload and analysis for large files (>32MB) that require a different API endpoint.
- Access enterprise-only features like Live Hunt and Retro Hunt for threat hunting and historical analysis.
- Build security monitoring tools that query VirusTotal for file and URL reputation data.
- Retrieve file relationships and metadata from VirusTotal's v3 API in a simplified, Pythonic interface.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Provides a Python 3 client library for the VirusTotal v3 REST API, including enterprise features like Live Hunt, Retro Hunt, and file analysis.

No—the package is abandoned (last release August 2020, repository archived) and VirusTotal's v3 API is documented as beta with active development that may introduce breaking changes. The unclear license adds legal risk. Consider using an actively maintained alternative or calling the VirusTotal v3 API directly with a standard HTTP client.

## Install

pip install virustotal3
uv add virustotal3
poetry add virustotal3

## Installing virustotal3

Before you install: High install friction due to no runtime dependencies but abandoned maintenance status—last release was 2020-08-17 and the repository is archived. The v3 API is documented as beta and under active development by VirusTotal, meaning breaking changes may occur without corresponding library updates.

License in practice: License treatment is unclear; no SPDX identifier or raw license text is available in the package metadata. Verify the actual license before use in proprietary or restricted contexts.

Quickstart:

import os
import virustotal3.enterprise

API_KEY = os.environ['VT_API']
livehunt = virustotal3.enterprise.Livehunt(API_KEY)
rulesets = livehunt.get_rulesets()
print(rulesets)

Requires a valid VirusTotal API key set in the VT_API environment variable; the v3 API is in beta and subject to breaking changes.

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package still works reliably with the current VirusTotal v3 API given its abandoned status since 2020.
- Current compatibility with modern Python 3 versions (requires_python field is empty).
- Whether recent API changes mentioned in the description (URL.get_comments, URL.get_votes) have been addressed.

## Package facts

- License: not declared (unclear)
- Python support: unspecified
- Install friction: high
- Maintenance: abandoned
- Downloads: 166.5K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

virustotal api client, malware scanning python, file threat analysis, virustotal v3 wrapper, security api integration, live hunt retro hunt, file upload scanning, api-client, security, abandoned

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